World's Largest Stinger Load-out

Pioneering Spirit, Allseas' record-breaking
offshore construction vessel, is a dynamically positioned vessel
designed for single-lift installation and removal of large offshore
oil and gas platforms and the installation of record-weight subsea
pipelines. Inspired by the offshore heavy lifting pioneer Pieter
Schelte Heerema (1908-81) and designed entirely in-house, the
vessel marks a new era in the heavy lifting industry and surpasses
Allseas' own Solitaire as the world's largest pipelay vessel.

​Pioneering Spirit was built in South Korea by Daewoo and
arrived in Rotterdam for final outfitting in January 2015. Sarens
was involved from the early stage of concept and solution
development until execution relating to the installation of 12 of
the unique 2000-tonne topsides lift system (TLS) beams on board the
Pioneering Spirit, performed between January and September 2015
using self-propelled modular transporters (SPMTs) and barges
supported by detailed engineering.

Additionally, Sarens was contracted by Iemants in 2014 for the
jacking - loadout and transfer of the vessel's 4,200 tonne, 150 m
long and 65 m wide stinger. The first step of the operation was the
jacking up of the stinger using Sarens' CS5000 jacking system,
which allowed Iemants to finalize the construction. The completed
stinger was subsequently transferred from the construction location
in Vlissingen, the Netherlands, to Allseas' purpose-built stinger
barge, Bumblebee.

This challenging transfer operation was the first step in the
loadout using Sarens' barges Paula & Jan, which were positioned
in a catamaran configuration using a total of 168 axle lines of
Kamag 24 SMPTs. On board the barges, a total ballast capacity of
30,000 tonnes was installed for safety and control reasons over the
stern loadout operation, which was tide dependent. After the
loadout, the barges were rotated 90 degrees, allowing the Bumblebee
to be accurately positioned in between the Paula & Jan barges
by means of a winch controlled operation. Once the Bumblebee was in
final position, the transfer of weight from the Sarens barges to
the Bumblebee was performed using the latter's ballast system, a
procedure supported by detailed design and engineering.

Carl Sarens, Director Technical Solutions & Engineering,
points out the above achievements are the result of an intensive
and successful cooperation between two world-class companies, both
proud of their skilled and dedicated staff which were the basis of
this success!

The vessel is expected to start offshore operations this
summer, with removal of the Yme topsides in the Norwegian North
Sea.